More Articles

Columbus might need some sworn officers for its new Division of Fashion Police.

OK, so maybe it won’t need to go that far, but enforcement of a proposed dress code for livery
drivers did draw fashion-police jokes at Thursday’s Vehicle for Hire Board meeting.

The dress code would include provisions for skirts that are no shorter than 3 inches above the
knee, a button-down shirt with no logos and “conservative-colored slacks,” among other
requirements.

“Red is very conservative to me,” joked Jeff Kates, a board member and president of Yellow Cab
of Columbus.

The proposal seeks to make drivers in the higher-priced liveries match the black-car and limo
service they provide. But officials have struggled to decide what’s appropriate.

“I have a concern with ‘conservative-colored slacks’ because it’s very subjective,” said Ramona
Patts, the board’s chairwoman.

And once a dress code is approved, someone is going to have to enforce it.

“Who’s going to be the fashion police?” Kates asked.

• • •

This winter has been like one long, expensive economics lesson for the Ohio Department of
Transportation.

The agency made arrangements to buy what, in an average year, would have been more than enough
salt to keep state highways clear of snow and ice.

But this winter has had more snow than normal, and ODOT has had to use much more salt than it
would in an average season.

Last fall, ODOT signed contracts with four companies that helped it buy more than 425,000 tons
of salt at an average price of $37.88 per ton. Including the salt it had on hand, the agency had
more than 1 million tons.

But ODOT has had to buy additional salt four times this year amid a national shortage. And those
purchases were off-contract.

In its most-recent bid approved by the state Controlling Board last week, ODOT bought 20,000
tons at $73.88 a ton from one salt company and 10,000 tons at $56.75 a ton from another.

If you’re keeping score, that’s an average price of $68.17, or a markup of $30.29 over the
October price.

• • •

Today is the final day on the job for Bob Lawler, who has directed the transportation department
at the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission since 2003.

Lawler, a sort of guru in Columbus’ transportation scene, started at MORPC in 1978.

That means Lawler has worked with every general manager at the Central Ohio Transit Authority,
which rolled its first buses on the road four years before Lawler started working at MORPC. His
agency acts as a planning organization for the region and a conduit for federal funding to local
projects.

Last week, COTA wished Lawler a happy retirement with a resolution commending his work. CEO
Curtis Stitt called Lawler a “champion of public transit.”

And he said (only half jokingly) that Lawler will most be missed because he could always be
counted on to help COTA find more money for projects.